MOD at Platform Project Space
4/19/2022
April 22 to May 21, 2022 / Opening: April 22 (Same night that Dumbo Open Studios opens)
For the word “mod,” like all homonyms, everything is a situation. It’s a slippery term with many meanings that depend on context, which could be early twentieth-century philosophical and aesthetic iconoclasm, postwar architecture, 1960s Carnaby Street, or something else altogether. For Two Coats of Paint, a favorite definition comes from contemporary gaming: mods are created when a player takes the basic code or structure of a game and changes the plot. In one way or another, the five artists selected for this exhibition could all be considered “modders,” whether exploring ideas about Modernism, working modularly, hacking the outcome, or serving as moderators who steer conversations.
Artists include Sharon Butler, Peter Dudek, Steve Hicks, Sheila Pepe, and Adam Simon. Curated by Sharon Butler
Link to images of work in the show are available here.
Platform Project Space, 20 Jay Street #319, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Doirector: Elizabeth Hazan
Platform Project Space: https://www.platformprojectspace.com/current-show
Platform on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/platformprojectspace/
4/19/2022
April 22 to May 21, 2022 / Opening: April 22 (Same night that Dumbo Open Studios opens)
For the word “mod,” like all homonyms, everything is a situation. It’s a slippery term with many meanings that depend on context, which could be early twentieth-century philosophical and aesthetic iconoclasm, postwar architecture, 1960s Carnaby Street, or something else altogether. For Two Coats of Paint, a favorite definition comes from contemporary gaming: mods are created when a player takes the basic code or structure of a game and changes the plot. In one way or another, the five artists selected for this exhibition could all be considered “modders,” whether exploring ideas about Modernism, working modularly, hacking the outcome, or serving as moderators who steer conversations.
Artists include Sharon Butler, Peter Dudek, Steve Hicks, Sheila Pepe, and Adam Simon. Curated by Sharon Butler
Link to images of work in the show are available here.
Platform Project Space, 20 Jay Street #319, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Doirector: Elizabeth Hazan
Platform Project Space: https://www.platformprojectspace.com/current-show
Platform on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/platformprojectspace/
Dumbo Open Studios, IRL in 2022
4/19/2022
"On April 23+24, 12–6pm artists in DUMBO will open their doors to the public as a part of DUMBO Open Studios, giving visitors a look into studios and workspaces across the Brooklyn waterfront. Known for its high density of artist studios, artist residency programs, and art galleries, DUMBO has been the epicenter of Brooklyn’s art community since the 1970’s."
I'll be showing the backdrop constructed of tarp and metalic paint for my collaboration with Julia Gleich in CounterPoint9 (see entry below), drawings made with tarp remnants, and some abstract paintings made in 2021.
Image above: Sharon Butler, Baselitz, 2021, oil on canvas, 52 x 45 inches.
#dumboopenstudios
Link to listing: https://dumboopenstudios.com/listings/artist/sharon-butler/
4/19/2022
"On April 23+24, 12–6pm artists in DUMBO will open their doors to the public as a part of DUMBO Open Studios, giving visitors a look into studios and workspaces across the Brooklyn waterfront. Known for its high density of artist studios, artist residency programs, and art galleries, DUMBO has been the epicenter of Brooklyn’s art community since the 1970’s."
I'll be showing the backdrop constructed of tarp and metalic paint for my collaboration with Julia Gleich in CounterPoint9 (see entry below), drawings made with tarp remnants, and some abstract paintings made in 2021.
Image above: Sharon Butler, Baselitz, 2021, oil on canvas, 52 x 45 inches.
#dumboopenstudios
Link to listing: https://dumboopenstudios.com/listings/artist/sharon-butler/
Collaboration with Choreographer Julia Gleich in CounterPointe9
3/10/2022
The Mark O'Donnell Theater at the Actors Fund Arts Center
160 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn
Read about the artists of CounterPointe9
3/10/2022
CounterPointe9: New work by women choreographers and their collaborations with artists
Featuring new collaborative works by:
Julia Gleich, Gleich Dances with Sharon Butler
Joan Liu with Traci Johnson
Kathryn Roszak with Anna Sidana
Charly Santagado with Barbara Weissberger
JoVonna Parks with Noël Hennelly
Tiffany Mangulabnan with Madge Reyes
Sarah Marazzi-Sassoon with Sophia Chizuco
Eryn Renee Young with Elizabeth Riley
Mar 11-13, 2022
Fri, Mar 11 at 7:30pm SOLD OUT
Sat, Mar 12 at 7:30pm SOLD OUT
Sun, Mar 13 at 4pm SOLD OUT
Featuring new collaborative works by:
Julia Gleich, Gleich Dances with Sharon Butler
Joan Liu with Traci Johnson
Kathryn Roszak with Anna Sidana
Charly Santagado with Barbara Weissberger
JoVonna Parks with Noël Hennelly
Tiffany Mangulabnan with Madge Reyes
Sarah Marazzi-Sassoon with Sophia Chizuco
Eryn Renee Young with Elizabeth Riley
Mar 11-13, 2022
Fri, Mar 11 at 7:30pm SOLD OUT
Sat, Mar 12 at 7:30pm SOLD OUT
Sun, Mar 13 at 4pm SOLD OUT
The Mark O'Donnell Theater at the Actors Fund Arts Center
160 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn
Read about the artists of CounterPointe9
Produced by Norte Maar and originated in partnership with Brooklyn Ballet. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
Praxis Interview on Yale Radio with Brainard Carey
1/29/2022
I spoke with Brainard Carey on January 27 about my painting practice, the Good Morning drawings, studio life during the pandemic, making paintings for other artists, the future, disaster fiction, looking at artists' work on the phone, and more.
Link: Interview with Brainard Carey, January 27, 2022
About the podcast: Brainard Carey's Praxis Interviews "capture the lives of the most Excellent Artists, Architects, Curators, Critics, Theorists and more, like Vasari's book updated." He has recorded interviews with over 1,200 artists, curators, poets, writers, critics and others about studio practice, broadcast at Yale University radio WYBCX. The series is available on most podcast platforms.
Image: One of the "Trade Paintings" mentioned in the interview.
Sharon Butler, Trade Painting-November 19, 2019 (2020) oil on canvas, 12x12 inches. Private collection.
1/29/2022
I spoke with Brainard Carey on January 27 about my painting practice, the Good Morning drawings, studio life during the pandemic, making paintings for other artists, the future, disaster fiction, looking at artists' work on the phone, and more.
Link: Interview with Brainard Carey, January 27, 2022
About the podcast: Brainard Carey's Praxis Interviews "capture the lives of the most Excellent Artists, Architects, Curators, Critics, Theorists and more, like Vasari's book updated." He has recorded interviews with over 1,200 artists, curators, poets, writers, critics and others about studio practice, broadcast at Yale University radio WYBCX. The series is available on most podcast platforms.
Image: One of the "Trade Paintings" mentioned in the interview.
Sharon Butler, Trade Painting-November 19, 2019 (2020) oil on canvas, 12x12 inches. Private collection.
Interview the Interviewer w/ Sharon Butler, Painter & Art Writer
1/29/2022
In January I spoke at length with artist Amy Talluto on her new Pep Talks For Artists podcast about painting, writing, understanding the future, politics, brushes, art history, and more. Thanks Amy!
Link: Interview on Pep Talks For Artists, published January 22, 2022
Image: A screen grab of drawings that are the basis for the "Twelve Days in July" painting series that I mentinoned at the beginning of our conversation.
1/29/2022
In January I spoke at length with artist Amy Talluto on her new Pep Talks For Artists podcast about painting, writing, understanding the future, politics, brushes, art history, and more. Thanks Amy!
Link: Interview on Pep Talks For Artists, published January 22, 2022
Image: A screen grab of drawings that are the basis for the "Twelve Days in July" painting series that I mentinoned at the beginning of our conversation.
"Eraser" opens Feb. 3 in Brimingham
1/29/2022
1/29/2022
Curated by Brian Edmonds, with Sharon Butler, Matt Kleberg, Jered Sprecher, Jason Stopa, Sean Sullivan, Vadis Turner, Cecilia Vissers, Don Voisine, and Thornton Willis.
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 3, 5–7 pm
Curator and Artist Talk: Saturday, February 19, 2 pm at GFC or on Zoom (location TBA)
Ground Floor Contemporary is pleased to present Eraser by visiting curator Brian Edmonds. This group exhibition explores how contemporary artists currently utilize the fundamental elements of art – color, form, and line as their primary subject matter.
Eraser, a group exhibition curated by Brian Edmonds, brings together artists featured in Edmond's biannual arts monograph, Eraser, published by Curating Contemporary. On view will be paintings, drawings, and sculpture by Sharon Butler, Matt Kleberg, Jered Sprecher, Jason Stopa, Sean Sullivan, Vadis Turner, Cecilia Vissers, Don Voisine, and Thornton Willis. With a nod to Robert Rauschenberg’s Erased de Kooning Drawing, the exhibition focuses on smaller, more intimate work, and each artist was selected for their distinct vision as well as the materials and methods they employ. Viewed individually or in unison, the works beg the viewer to ask questions and explore the many possible narratives and conversations.
Brian Edmonds is an artist, writer, and curator based in Huntsville, Alabama. He has exhibited nationally and internationally in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, London, Paris, Marseilles, and Cyprus. In 2012, Edmonds founded Curating Contemporary, an online exhibition space, and since its inception, the site has hosted over fifty exhibitions. In 2019, he began publishing Eraser, a biannual book featuring the work of contemporary artists and writers.
Image: Sharon Butler, May 15, 2019-02, 2021, oil on canvas, 12x12 inches
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 3, 5–7 pm
Curator and Artist Talk: Saturday, February 19, 2 pm at GFC or on Zoom (location TBA)
Ground Floor Contemporary is pleased to present Eraser by visiting curator Brian Edmonds. This group exhibition explores how contemporary artists currently utilize the fundamental elements of art – color, form, and line as their primary subject matter.
Eraser, a group exhibition curated by Brian Edmonds, brings together artists featured in Edmond's biannual arts monograph, Eraser, published by Curating Contemporary. On view will be paintings, drawings, and sculpture by Sharon Butler, Matt Kleberg, Jered Sprecher, Jason Stopa, Sean Sullivan, Vadis Turner, Cecilia Vissers, Don Voisine, and Thornton Willis. With a nod to Robert Rauschenberg’s Erased de Kooning Drawing, the exhibition focuses on smaller, more intimate work, and each artist was selected for their distinct vision as well as the materials and methods they employ. Viewed individually or in unison, the works beg the viewer to ask questions and explore the many possible narratives and conversations.
Brian Edmonds is an artist, writer, and curator based in Huntsville, Alabama. He has exhibited nationally and internationally in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, London, Paris, Marseilles, and Cyprus. In 2012, Edmonds founded Curating Contemporary, an online exhibition space, and since its inception, the site has hosted over fifty exhibitions. In 2019, he began publishing Eraser, a biannual book featuring the work of contemporary artists and writers.
Image: Sharon Butler, May 15, 2019-02, 2021, oil on canvas, 12x12 inches
"Love Devotion Surrender Dedication" at Rick Wester
10/8/2021
A Group Exhibition Co-curated by Mary Shah and Rick Wester
July 15 – September 11, 2021
Rick Wester Fine Art is very pleased to present Love Devotion Surrender Dedication, a group exhibition inspired by, and dedicated to, the 1973 album Love Devotion Surrender by Carlos Santana and Mahavishnu John McLaughlin. That collaboration in itself was specifically an homage to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane's late, spiritually endowed tonal poem recorded in 1964. Universally recognized in the world of jazz, as Carlos Santana described him, "an Archangel of the highest order to bring healing to this planet," his life was tragically cut short as he passed away just five years prior to the Santana/McLaughlin recording. The exhibition's artists also aim for higher planes of consciousness and awareness, by allowing themselves to be guided by what their creative processes inform them to do. Meditative and reflective, their work offers a respite from the hard-edged reality the world has served up since the advent of the scourge in early 2020. The exhibition is co-curated by artist Mary Shah and Rick Wester.
Featuring:
Debe ARLOOK, Cat BALCO, Sharon BUTLER, Max KELLENBERGER, Amanda MARCHAND, Tom MCGLYNN, Jill MOSER, Stephen MUELLER, Andy RICHTER, Alyse ROSNER, Wendi SCHNEIDER, Andrew SCHWARTZ, Mary SHAH, Barbara TAKENAGA, Alex TURNER, Lydia VISCARDI, Nicole WASSALL, Tenesh WEBBER, Alex YUDZON
Image: Sharon BUTLER
Triptych, Left to right: May 15, 2019-02, 2020, October 21, 2019-3, 2021 , July 2, 2018-02, 2020
10/8/2021
A Group Exhibition Co-curated by Mary Shah and Rick Wester
July 15 – September 11, 2021
Featuring:
Debe ARLOOK, Cat BALCO, Sharon BUTLER, Max KELLENBERGER, Amanda MARCHAND, Tom MCGLYNN, Jill MOSER, Stephen MUELLER, Andy RICHTER, Alyse ROSNER, Wendi SCHNEIDER, Andrew SCHWARTZ, Mary SHAH, Barbara TAKENAGA, Alex TURNER, Lydia VISCARDI, Nicole WASSALL, Tenesh WEBBER, Alex YUDZON
Image: Sharon BUTLER
Triptych, Left to right: May 15, 2019-02, 2020, October 21, 2019-3, 2021 , July 2, 2018-02, 2020
"Pause" at Theodore Gallery, Tribeca
6/21/2021
6/21/2021
PAUSE
Bill Albertini,
Stephen Bron,
Eric Brown,
Sharon Butler,
Peter Krashes,
Sylvia Plimack Mangold,
Michelle Vaughan,
Andrew Witkin
June 18 - July 31, 2021
Opening Friday June 18, 1-8 pm
Gallery hours Thursday- Saturday 12-6 pm
Image: Sharon Butler, October 21, 2019 (1), 2020, oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches.
Bill Albertini,
Stephen Bron,
Eric Brown,
Sharon Butler,
Peter Krashes,
Sylvia Plimack Mangold,
Michelle Vaughan,
Andrew Witkin
June 18 - July 31, 2021
Opening Friday June 18, 1-8 pm
Gallery hours Thursday- Saturday 12-6 pm
Image: Sharon Butler, October 21, 2019 (1), 2020, oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches.
Sharon Butler organizes Marathon Art Conversation on Clubhouse for Dumbo Open Studios
5/11/2021
On May 13, to help kick off another online edition of Dumbo Open Studios, Sharon Butler and Two Coats of Paint have organized a marathon art conversation on Clubhouse featuring a lively crew of DUMBO regulars. Artists and arts organizations will join us throughout the day to talk about art, exhibitions, issues and ideas. The Two Coats of Paint Club will open rooms from 9:30am to 7pm (and at miscellaneous times throughout the ten-day event). Guest hosts include Matthew Deleget from Minus Space, Becky Sellinger from Smack Mellon, Beth Dary and Jeff Wallace from the Main Window Dumbo project, Elizabeth Hazan from Platform Project Space, Alexi Worth, Laura Karetzky, Teri Hackett, Samantha Taylor, Lauren Skelly Baily, will host, and many other artists will join them throughout the day. Read more.
5/11/2021
On May 13, to help kick off another online edition of Dumbo Open Studios, Sharon Butler and Two Coats of Paint have organized a marathon art conversation on Clubhouse featuring a lively crew of DUMBO regulars. Artists and arts organizations will join us throughout the day to talk about art, exhibitions, issues and ideas. The Two Coats of Paint Club will open rooms from 9:30am to 7pm (and at miscellaneous times throughout the ten-day event). Guest hosts include Matthew Deleget from Minus Space, Becky Sellinger from Smack Mellon, Beth Dary and Jeff Wallace from the Main Window Dumbo project, Elizabeth Hazan from Platform Project Space, Alexi Worth, Laura Karetzky, Teri Hackett, Samantha Taylor, Lauren Skelly Baily, will host, and many other artists will join them throughout the day. Read more.
Sharon Butler: Morning in America at Theodore:Art
1/9/2021
"Sharon Butler: Morning in America"
January 15 - March 7, 2021
Theodore:Art
56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY
Theodore:Art is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by Sharon Butler.For the past few years, Butler has produced daily drawings on her phone. The Good Morning Drawings, digitalsketches uploaded to Instagram, reflect the peripatetic experience of a contemporary painter with a complexlife—teaching, traveling, parenting, working. The small geometric abstractions serve as foundational ideas on whichto build firm structures that investigate painting and its discontents more thoroughly in the context of a complex andchaotic world.
In March of this year, during the Covid lockdown in New York City, Butler had the chance to reflect on personal andsocio-political anxiety as refracted by the diaristic nature of the Good Morning Drawing series of the recent past.The time in the studio was quieter, oriented towards a kind of distillation of paramount issues and aspects of theartist’s life and world view -- a kind of slow breathing exercise of the mind. This show represents an exhale of relief.We are still here, Butler still finds the lifeblood of painting closely connected to the roller coaster of the experienceof daily life.
A painter and arts writer, Sharon Butler is widely known as the founder of Two Coats of Paint, a project whichincludes an influential art blog, an artist residency, and other initiatives. She has shown work at Theodore:Art (2016,2018) and SEASON (Seattle). Thanks to the generosity of the Two Trees Cultural Space Subsidy Program, Butlermaintains a studio in Brooklyn, under the Manhattan Bridge. She has received grants and residencies from CreativeCapital/The Warhol Foundation’s Art Writers Program, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation,Yaddo, ConnecticutCommission for the Arts, and Counterproof Press. She currently teaches at the New York Academy of Art and inthe MFA program at the University of Connecticut.
Her exhibitions at Theodore in 2016 and 2018 have receivedcritical attention from Time Out NY, Hyperallergic, Artcritical, and New York Magazine.
For information and images, please contact Stephanie Theodore at 212 966 4324 or theodoreart@gmail.com
"Sharon Buter: Morning in America"
January 15 to March 7, 2021
at Theodore:Art
56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY
Reviews:
Laurie Fendrich, "Accidental on Purpose: Sharon Butler at Theodore:Art," artcritical,web, February 26, 2021.
James Panero, "Gallery Chronicle," The New Criterion, March 2021.
Loren Monk, "Sharon Butler at Theodore:Art," James Kalm Rough Cuts, video review, January 26, 2021.
Image: Sharon Butler, "May 29, 2018," 2020, oil on canvas, 52x45 inches
1/9/2021
"Sharon Butler: Morning in America"
January 15 - March 7, 2021
Theodore:Art
56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY
Theodore:Art is pleased to present an exhibition of new paintings by Sharon Butler.For the past few years, Butler has produced daily drawings on her phone. The Good Morning Drawings, digitalsketches uploaded to Instagram, reflect the peripatetic experience of a contemporary painter with a complexlife—teaching, traveling, parenting, working. The small geometric abstractions serve as foundational ideas on whichto build firm structures that investigate painting and its discontents more thoroughly in the context of a complex andchaotic world.
In March of this year, during the Covid lockdown in New York City, Butler had the chance to reflect on personal andsocio-political anxiety as refracted by the diaristic nature of the Good Morning Drawing series of the recent past.The time in the studio was quieter, oriented towards a kind of distillation of paramount issues and aspects of theartist’s life and world view -- a kind of slow breathing exercise of the mind. This show represents an exhale of relief.We are still here, Butler still finds the lifeblood of painting closely connected to the roller coaster of the experienceof daily life.
A painter and arts writer, Sharon Butler is widely known as the founder of Two Coats of Paint, a project whichincludes an influential art blog, an artist residency, and other initiatives. She has shown work at Theodore:Art (2016,2018) and SEASON (Seattle). Thanks to the generosity of the Two Trees Cultural Space Subsidy Program, Butlermaintains a studio in Brooklyn, under the Manhattan Bridge. She has received grants and residencies from CreativeCapital/The Warhol Foundation’s Art Writers Program, the Pollock-Krasner Foundation,Yaddo, ConnecticutCommission for the Arts, and Counterproof Press. She currently teaches at the New York Academy of Art and inthe MFA program at the University of Connecticut.
Her exhibitions at Theodore in 2016 and 2018 have receivedcritical attention from Time Out NY, Hyperallergic, Artcritical, and New York Magazine.
For information and images, please contact Stephanie Theodore at 212 966 4324 or theodoreart@gmail.com
"Sharon Buter: Morning in America"
January 15 to March 7, 2021
at Theodore:Art
56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn, NY
Reviews:
Laurie Fendrich, "Accidental on Purpose: Sharon Butler at Theodore:Art," artcritical,web, February 26, 2021.
James Panero, "Gallery Chronicle," The New Criterion, March 2021.
Loren Monk, "Sharon Butler at Theodore:Art," James Kalm Rough Cuts, video review, January 26, 2021.
Image: Sharon Butler, "May 29, 2018," 2020, oil on canvas, 52x45 inches
Deep States at Theodore:Art
1/9/2021
DEEP STATES
featuring Berwald Borgsjo Sharon Butler Billy JacobsPeter Krashes Alix Lambert Lara NasserMichelle Vaughan Oliver Wasow H.C. Westermann
October 30 – January 10, 2020
Opening day viewing Friday, October 30, 1-6 pm
Gallery hours Friday-Sunday 1-6 pm and by appointment
“In a world that has REALLY been turned on its head, truth is a moment of falsehood.”― Guy Debord
Theodore:Art is pleased to present Deep States, an exhibition informed by and circling ideas of hidden powers,control, paranoia, and distrust of the powers that be.Although the term “Deep State” has been applied throughout the 20th and 21st Century to various regimes inmultiple countries, as a basis of comprehension we will start from the idea that if the Deep State is the unelected government, then by definition it is an undemocratic government.
The artists herein suggest projections of thatunelected power that affects our lives. Their responses are mysterious, documentary, hallucinatory, anxious,dreading, pissy, contemplative, and ultimately subjective. The impossibility of visually defining the identity andlimits of a mythical entity makes the act of attempting to do so both heroic and sisyphean. The Deep States eludethe grasp of the mind, the long arm of the law, and the influence of societal norms.
Image: Sharon Butler, Mueller Report (10.07.2016), 2020, oil on canvas, 16 x 16 inches.
1/9/2021
DEEP STATES
featuring Berwald Borgsjo Sharon Butler Billy JacobsPeter Krashes Alix Lambert Lara NasserMichelle Vaughan Oliver Wasow H.C. Westermann
October 30 – January 10, 2020
Opening day viewing Friday, October 30, 1-6 pm
Gallery hours Friday-Sunday 1-6 pm and by appointment
“In a world that has REALLY been turned on its head, truth is a moment of falsehood.”― Guy Debord
Theodore:Art is pleased to present Deep States, an exhibition informed by and circling ideas of hidden powers,control, paranoia, and distrust of the powers that be.Although the term “Deep State” has been applied throughout the 20th and 21st Century to various regimes inmultiple countries, as a basis of comprehension we will start from the idea that if the Deep State is the unelected government, then by definition it is an undemocratic government.
The artists herein suggest projections of thatunelected power that affects our lives. Their responses are mysterious, documentary, hallucinatory, anxious,dreading, pissy, contemplative, and ultimately subjective. The impossibility of visually defining the identity andlimits of a mythical entity makes the act of attempting to do so both heroic and sisyphean. The Deep States eludethe grasp of the mind, the long arm of the law, and the influence of societal norms.
Image: Sharon Butler, Mueller Report (10.07.2016), 2020, oil on canvas, 16 x 16 inches.
